AUSTRALIA is suspending its deployment of nine specialist military officers to Darfur following the attack that killed seven and wounded 19 United Nations peacekeepers last week.

The Defence Minister, Joel Fitzgibbon, said yesterday the mission would not proceed until security improved. In deciding whether to reactivate the mission, the Government would be advised by the UN, he said.

UN investigators have been unable to discover whether it was government-backed militia or a rebel group that attacked its peackeepers. Armed with machine-guns and anti-aircraft artillery, the attackers subjected the combined UN-African Union force to a sustained barrage over three hours.

The peacekeepers were on a patrol to investigate killings of civilians when attacked.